Hearing aid thoughts

My OH tried the NHS aids but can't deal with the batteries (too fiddly) and got little help from the NHS in adjusting them. Went private - expensively - and has rechargeable ones which are no problem and was given as many housecalls to adjust them as needed. No problems after about two years.

I have been deaf in one ear for over 20 years and have worn a hearing aid for about 12 yrs. I managed but had no sense of location of a sound which was important in traffic. Best advice was not to leave it too late to get them as they take a bit of getting used to and can be fiddley if hands are arthritic.

I’ve had NHS hearing aids for 6 years now, the original ones were great and did the job, but my new NHS ones are even better as they direct phone calls and sound from my iPad directly into my aids which makes the sound so much clearer, which is a boon because my main contact with my grandchildren who live abroad is through videos calls and before having my hearing aids electronic sounds were difficult to understand. Whilst I understand private aids may or may not have additional benefits I would recommend at least trialing the NHS ones before paying out for private ones on the recommendation of a salesman

Etoile, I sympathise with your situation. I fortunately only had a short time to wait.

GOD I opted for NHS hearing aids. Firstly they are really surprisingly up to date. I have ones with Bluetooth so can get phone calls etc directly into my ear. They can connect to my tv too. Their free, and the audiology dept are great. When I thought my hearing was getting worse I received a prompt appointment and they adjusted them. Parts are free too - replacement aids, batteries, tubes etc.
I did trial private ones too and was quite tempted at £3500 (for the mid range price about 6 years ago). Then they mentioned that they needed replacing roughly every 3 years. That’s when I looked into NHS and was very pleasantly surprised.

I’d suggest trying the NHS ones first then if they don’t work out try private.

They made a world of difference and I realised just how much I had been dipping out of conversations as I couldn’t hear properly and didn’t like saying pardon repeatedly.

BTW batteries can be purchased on that well known website if like me the hospital is a bit of a distance and our local surgery doesn’t always have them in. (They’re free from the surgery and hospital).

both my husband and I wear NHS aids and have been extremely well looked after for over 20 years. Can get a box of new batteries as soon as needed (free, as are the aids). At my last check up the audiologist adjusted them to work with Bluetooth so the sound goes directly to my ears rather than disturb anyone else as I always needed the loudspeaker on when using my phone to speak to anyone. Feel so grateful to the NHS.

Many years ago I worked in Audiology (in the era of bulky body-worn aids- how times have changed!).
But two pieces of advice that are as relevant today as they were then:
As jeannieallergy21 says, always try an NHS aid first before going elsewhere and buying something that isn't suitable
Also, remember, your hearing aid may pick up sounds that you may not want to hear such as people coughing in the quiet of the cinema, background chatter in social situations, traffic noise etc.
Today's aids are, thankfully, so much more sophisticated that tweaks and adjustments can be made to the suit the individual insuring that they seldom end up in a drawer like the NHS aids of old.

Jeanieallergy21

I think the type of gearing aids supplied by the NHS can vary depending on which Trust area you live in. This year my old aids were replaced by fancy new bluetooth ones which I can adjust to various settings using my smartphone. I can also use them as Bluetooth earbuds to answer my mobile calls, listen to music, etc. They are brilliant and free on the NHS. I would recommend that anyone with a hearing problem should try the NHS first and go elsewhere if they are not happy with what the NHS supplies.

100% agree they are as good as any these days. Hearing aids will never be perfect but the NHS ones offered now are very good.

Katyj

I have Phonak blue tooth aids fitted 4 months ago from our local NHS hospital. I left them in after having them fitted.
I love them, I’m able to control them from my phone and alter them to suit my environment. My voice sounded loud to start with but that soon wore off. I’m enjoying conversation and tv again. Wish I got them sooner.

I have worm hearing aid for 40 years, I now have NHS Signia Bluetooth hearing aids which connect to my phone, having previously spent thousands on various aid and attachments. I could not manage without them and love that I can now do online, Teams & Zoom on my iPad and hear everything. I watch most of the TV programmes I wish to see (not many) on the iPad too as it zooms straight through to the aids. Life changing for someone like me, who do a lot of on-line meetings.

You are fortunate to get an appointment so quickly GrowingOldDisgracefully. My hearing gets worse each day but the first appointment I could get for hearing aids is 8th April. I first saw a doctor about this in June.

*hearing aids! Not gearing aids!

I think the type of gearing aids supplied by the NHS can vary depending on which Trust area you live in. This year my old aids were replaced by fancy new bluetooth ones which I can adjust to various settings using my smartphone. I can also use them as Bluetooth earbuds to answer my mobile calls, listen to music, etc. They are brilliant and free on the NHS. I would recommend that anyone with a hearing problem should try the NHS first and go elsewhere if they are not happy with what the NHS supplies.

We both have nhs ones. Can't say they are life changing but I am afraid of going private in case they are no better. We have used sub titles for many years as well. My hearing loss is conductive , not sensory.

I have been deaf my whole life, and have used hearing aids for decades. NHS offer a whole range of aids according to your hearing loss. Only people with slight hearing loss can use the more invisible wire type ones, and the hearings aids get bigger the more deaf you are. I live in a bungalow community of elderly and disabled people and was horrified to hear that so many had been conned into spending thousands of pounds into buying hearing aids by smooth talking sales people by slating NHS ones, just remember , they are only after your money! If you need them NHS will provide them and the correct type according to the severity of your hearing loss. If you have a few thousand quid to spare then go ahead and help them achieve their monthly sales target. My NHS ones are digital have various settings for phones, loop systems, cutting out background noise, front or back directional modes. They take a while to get used to especially if you are used to silence suddenly you find the world is a loud place, so gradually build up wearing them. Make sure you clean them often , I use alcohol lens wipes which I buy from Tesco to give them a wipe over, and use a toothpick to get wax out from the tubes. In summer they can make your ears sweat and can get sore, so I tend to alternate ears so they get a chance to breathe. I get free batteries from chemist and doctors.

I have Phonak blue tooth aids fitted 4 months ago from our local NHS hospital. I left them in after having them fitted.
I love them, I’m able to control them from my phone and alter them to suit my environment. My voice sounded loud to start with but that soon wore off. I’m enjoying conversation and tv again. Wish I got them sooner.

It is important that you wear aids if your hearing is failing, as poor hearing means your brain will not register certain pitches of sound, and will 'forget' to hear them even if you eventually start to wear aids. It seems to be a case of the sooner the better. I've worn NHS aids, very small, behind the ear with a clear bud in the ear canal, for about ten years. Most days I don't even think about them; for some reason my ears feel itchy at times and I have a not so good day, but without them the world is a much quieter place, and conversation is not easy.

I went down the private route, as I could afford to pay for the latest technology. I have been high-tone deaf all my life (discovered by an audiologist visit to primary school when I was about 7), but as I have aged, my deafness has got a lot worse, so decided to bite the bullet 4 months ago.

My aids (behind the ear, receiver in the canal) are really tiny and unobtrusive, and are rechargeable overnight. There were a few hiccups, due to the wax filters constantly clogging up, but I’ve now solved that problem, fortunately.

I can say, it has been quite life changing, being able to hear the TV clearly, and a friend’s voice (who can be a bit of a mumbler!) the doorbell, and birds in the garden (not so much the crows…)

To begin with, everything sounds awfully loud, but you adjust, and the advice given to me was to wear them all the time.

I don’t have experience with NHS aids, but have read that they can be very good, but there does seem to be a post code lottery as to which aids you are offered, depending on your local health authority, and how long you might have to wait.

I was sold some expensive Swiss hearing aids in 2018. They were supposed to be rechargeable but the batteries stopped recharging after a few months so I just use the normal ones.
They work okay, but I gather there are now hi-tech hearing aids available which you can control with your phone. Does anyone know about them?

I have a perforated ear and was offered a hearing aid whilst waiting for an op. Took a year to get it then it was cancelled. The hearing aid has been invaluable.

I’ve had NHS hearing aids for the last twenty years or so. Have had very few problems and have found the Audiology service excellent. I now have hearing aids that connect to my phone and which enable me to play audiobooks through them, I’m partially sighted. They adjust to reduce background noise when I’m in restaurants etc and I can adjust them through my phone rather than having to fiddle with tiny buttons on the aids themselves. I’d say go for it. The world may sound very loud for a day or two but the brain soon adjusts.

DH got rechargeable ones from Specsavers but he too had trouble with the charger, Charleygirl5. After it was mended it worked better for a while, but now he just uses ordinary batteries. I can see me needing aids soon, but will go for a cheaper, non-rechargeable kind!

I was given NHS ones but found them difficult to manage because I had mega problems changing the batteries because I am partially sighted,

I have private ones bought last Specsavers for £1K. I have returned on average fortnightly because the domes did not fit so the aids popped out, They were rechargeable which was so easy.

Then my aids did not work, The rechargeable light was on but there was nobody at home. I was given a new recharger but there was a problem with my left aid so it is being repaired. When they work I can hear a TV programme. I am now using one private and one NHS aid and no problems.

Old age did not cause my deafness, I have a benign brain tumour which needs surgery but I doubt if it will be done in my lifetime.

Go for it if you think you need help with hearing.
Specsavers NHS ones which have served my husband well since he needed them all a good place to start.
Last checkup, the technician reminded him how NHS ones only have one chip so if he wanted to hear speech more clearly in noisy venues, He should get ones that he pays for which have two chips in one to enhance speech and one to reduce the background noise.
(I’m repeating his sales spiel so this may be incorrect.)
The outcome for me, is that he now speaks so quietly that I can’t hear him and has a television on so low that I put subtitles on.
One explanation for him speaking so low is that when I borrowed one of his hearing aids my speech sounded so loud in my head that I had to whisper to make it bearable. He says he can’t see a problem.
If he invites me into his hearing aid check the same as he did when he was planning to buy them, I’m going to mention the problems it’s causing for me.
Incidentally, he still has selective hearing when I’m talking to him.🤣🤣🤣